Can any wood have ripple grain?

[Andy Kev.]

The reason I ask the question is that yesterday I planed the most unusual piece of American tulip I've come across. Having sawn off the waney edge I set about planing it, got tearout along one side of the edge, thought I'd misjudged the grain direction, turned it around in the vice and then got tearout on the other side of the edge. I thought this a bit rum so got a Bailey style plane to get rid of the tearout and this worked.

Then I started on one of the sides and to my surprise found a roughly two inch wide strip of ripple grain running next to the edge. The whole surface was much silkier than is usual on a piece of tulipwood and the planing even sounded different than a normal sample. (I would photograph it but it is so pale that I don't think it would show on an Image and then there would be the matter of trying to reduce the file size in my new photo software i.e. mission more or less impossible for an IT-phobe like me.)

This got me wondering if any wood can exhibit ripple and or reverse grain (I guess the edge is showing reverse grain). I imagine that the theoretical answer would be along the lines of "if certain growing conditions are met, then yes" but why is it that some woods seem to do it a lot and some, like the tulipwood, only rarely? I can't for instance imagine ripple grained boxwood. It really is quite pretty. Shame it's going to end up as part of the bottom of my new shoe box for the hall.

 

[sunnybob]

I have pieces of rippled sycamore and ash (courtesy of custard) and also a plank of heavily rippled beech, so i think the answer must be yes.

 

[ED65]

(I would photograph it but it is so pale that I don't think it would show on an Image and then there would be the matter of trying to reduce the file size in my new photo software i.e. mission more or less impossible for an IT-phobe like me.)

Host your photo externally and you won't really need to reduce the file size.

If you want to enhance any figure to try to make it more visible/photographable rub with oil.

I imagine that the theoretical answer would be along the lines of "if certain growing conditions are met, then yes" but why is it that some woods seem to do it a lot and some, like the tulipwood, only rarely?

I think that is it basically. Ripple/curl/fiddleback/ladder/tiger figure is I believe unknown in some species, although I have read opinions that it's theoretically possible in just about anything. Whether that's true or not it is seen occasionally in a lot of woods that aren't firmly associated with it like soft maple and European sycamore and I've seen in firsthand in horse chestnut, European ash, a type of birch, what might have been meranti, and on a very small scale in members of the Prunus genus including a wild cherry and blackthorn.

The figure can be hiding within the wood but invisible if the board isn't cut the right way and it can disappear to one side, or the middle, of certain boards where the grain changes direction enough as in your case. So it's a real lottery whether we get a chance to see it even when it is present and there's a good chance it may be more common than usually thought, just never seen.

 

[Ttrees]

I reckon its a safe bet to say there's plenty of examples of rippled boxwood, I was thinking Bill Carter had one large mitre plane with it, but it dosen't show up on video if it is...I could be wrong.
I have an old Record no.4 with a cobbled knob from some rippled boxwood, which I had to replace.

All my rippled African timbers seem to be heavier than the non rippled/figured stuff
I was going to use it for my bench, but was worried about the stability for an accurate bench top.

Tom

 

[Andy Kev.]

The reason that I said I couldn't imagine rippled boxwood is that the few bits I have seen (tool handles, rulers etc.) have all been completely unremarkable in the grain. Just shows how much I know. Maybe I should have asked if anybody knows of any wood which never shows rippled grain.

 

[sunnybob]

Up until I found my rippled beech plank I would have said that couldnt happen, so I dont think you can ever say never. :roll: :shock:

 

[profchris]

The reason that I said I couldn't imagine rippled boxwood is that the few bits I have seen (tool handles, rulers etc.) have all been completely unremarkable in the grain. Just shows how much I know. Maybe I should have asked if anybody knows of any wood which never shows rippled grain.

I've never seen rippled Western Red Cedar, and as it's commonly used for guitar tops I'd expect to have seen examples if they exist. But there probably is some, somewhere.

Holly? How could you tell without a magnifying glass?

 

[Andy Kev.]

Up until I found my rippled beech plank I would have said that couldnt happen, so I dont think you can ever say never. :roll: :shock:

It makes me wonder what the Holy Grail of rippled grain is ..... balsa?

 

[Andy Kev.]

The reason that I said I couldn't imagine rippled boxwood is that the few bits I have seen (tool handles, rulers etc.) have all been completely unremarkable in the grain. Just shows how much I know. Maybe I should have asked if anybody knows of any wood which never shows rippled grain.

I've never seen rippled Western Red Cedar, and as it's commonly used for guitar tops I'd expect to have seen examples if they exist. But there probably is some, somewhere.

Holly? How could you tell without a magnifying glass?

Is there a hint of ripple in this pic of western red cedar?
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=rippl ... 1804112851

It's the second row, square pic, fourth from the left and you have to click on it to get it big enough to (maybe) see it.

 

[Dovetaildave]

"2. Curly wood is found in every kind of tree under the sun."

https://www.popularwoodworking.com/proj ... curly-wood

Regards,
Dave

 

[will1983]

I planed up a length of sycamore last night that surprised me by having some lovely ripple in it.

I know sycamore regularly has rippling but the rough sawn board looked pretty rough. A quick kiss of the no4 and it showed its pretty face though.

Maybe I should rename my no4 "The Prince"??

 

[sunnybob]

I have a wonderful piece of rippled sycamore, supplied by custard.
Heres the finished box front view
http://www.pbase.com/john_cooper/image/167199114
and the rear
http://www.pbase.com/john_cooper/image/167199115

 

[Andy Kev.]

That box is an aesthetic triumph in all aspects of its design. The rippled grain is effectively the icing on the cake. Beautifully done!

 

[custard]

There's an interesting story behind those heat treated rippled Sycamore boards.

A flooring manufacturer, who heat treats boards to increase hardness and stability (which is what gives Sycamore that toffee colour), found they'd just processed a load of heavily rippled boards. The pronounced ripple meant these boards didn't match their catalogue photos, so they sold it all off to a timber yard, where I managed to get about a cubic metre of various thicknesses.

I got a couple of nice pieces of furniture out of it, but when I was working the stuff the workshop smelt like a barbecue!

 

[will1983]

Couple of photos of the rippled sycamore I mentioned

 

[memzey]

I love rippled sycamore or maple. Here’s a bit of a board that I got from timberline:

 

[Harbo]

There’s a bit on this leg, the other pieces are spalted - all sycamore.

Rod

 

[profchris]

If you really want curl, you want koa!

Contrasted with ash here.

 

[Racers]

This is a Yew stump with some ripple in the forks, I have some Lilac in the garden with the same ripples.

Ripple Yew by Racers, on Flickr

You can see the same ripple on the edge of Memzeys plank its a bit feint.

Pete

 

[Bm101]

Was browsing Imgur front page just now wasting half an hour and thought of this thread.
Some quilted maple.... :shock:
https://imgur.com/gallery/R4c66vZ
The original video is from instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bda4znFFnWj/